An Alternative Approach to Israeli Political Commentary

Beside the Point

The sharp drop in Palestinian rocket attacks from Gaza over the past few days since the deployment of Palestinian policemen in the northern part of the strip proves three key points:

1) Palestinian responsibility for terror - If the Palestinian Authority (PA) wants to prevent attacks against Israel, it can do so. In just a matter of a few days, the PA was able to clamp down – which once again underlines the Palestinian leadership’s direct responsibility for all the violence that has occurred until now. Had they wished to, they could have stopped it at any time.

2) Watch out for Abu Mazen - Newly-elected Palestinian chairman Abu Mazen is much smarter (and therefore much more dangerous) than his predecessor, Yasser Arafat. Whereas Arafat would typically have taken only a few limited measures before making utterly ridiculous demands of Israel, Abu Mazen has gone one step further. He has created a terrific Palestinian photo-op – that of armed Palestinian policemen on patrol, ostensibly to prevent mortar attacks on Israel. He’ll give Israel a couple of days of quiet – and then will undoubtedly ask for some “gestures” or “concessions” to bring back to “his people”. Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, of course, will be hard-pressed not to give in.

3) All this is beside the point – The fact is that even if Abu Mazen does succeed in bringing about a week or two of quiet on the Gaza front, this is beside the point. The main issue remains that the terrorist groups such as Hamas, Fatah and Islamic Jihad, all have the manpower and infrastructure in place to resume anti-Israel attacks at any time. Their agreement to a temporary cease-fire is tactical, not strategic – as far as they are concerned, this is little more than a chance to take a few days off and recoup before going back out to wage war on the Jewish state. The only way for Israel to ensure that the threat of rocket attacks from Gaza is eliminated once and for all is to eliminate the terrorists who pose the threat. Anything less is just biding for time, and nothing more.

Comments

Only the deaf, dumb and blind would not have realized by now that Mazen has always been lying through his teeth about not being able to "control" the terror groups. As he has shown these past few days he was indeed able to control them, just as Arafat was able to turn the terror spigot to a murderous high, or an acceptable low (for the Israeli leaders to be able to crow that "peace" is indeed around the corner!).

I would expect that the mainstream press worldwide would not point out the above obvious falsehood regarding Abbas's ability/inability to control the terror. However, the more salient question is - why hasn't the Israeli media pounced on this deception. This is because for the most part the leftist Israeli media has a hegemony over Israeli political outcomes. They are most interested in "creating" the historical record even BEFORE an event occurs.

In any event, those in Israeli "leadership" who will now proclaim that Mazen is the new "peace partner" need to compare this lunacy with the historical realities of the Jewish people. Could they in good conscience claim that Eichmann would have been a suitable "peace partner" after Hitler's death? Mazen and Eichmann are both second-in-command to this generation's most infamous Jew murderers.

Absolutely, positively mindboggling! These deceitful "leaders" will no doubt have the blood of the next Jewish casualties on their hands for participating in this deadly charade!

Peres is already crowing that we can't expect the PA to stop ALL attacks. He knows full well who the PA is. It just seems that he doesn't care if only a few Jews are hurt, as long as he can personally advance his prestige in the world.

Another old phenomenon is repeating itself - the press is not reporting all arab terror incidents in order to create the impression that the PA is serious about peace and is a "partner" for negotiations.

The leftist israeli media may control the flow of bad ideas concerning events gaza, but that falls far short of outcome of events on the ground.They are only a part of the multi-dimensional attack against us and the incessant drive towards and for internationalization of gaza and the introduction of foreign trrops and forces.Hizzbollah.Al-queida,Egyptian Jihadist groups have been operating in gaza for quite a while,with,in the jihadistviewpoint,gaza becoming a very important tactical center for jihadists on their way out towards iraq and other jihad battlefields.they are attempting to maintain their gains,build on them,and still maintain the jihad against the little satan israel.any gains realized by the reduction in frequency of terror attacks against israeli civilian military or infrastructure attacks will be met with an export of that terror against western,christian or any non islamic targets not in line with the jihadists views.the terror is in gaza,and any cease-fire will be met with an export of the terror by an already existing political and military terrorist infrastructure better financed and ensconced into friendly populations.israel is not meeting its expected international security requirements in gaza, but she can hardly be expected to do so alone.Will it be the Brits,the Egyptians, US Forces? Perhaps the US Forces in the Sinai will be moved to secure the airport or the port.i believe strategically a land bridge from the mediterreanean towards the inner islamic lands is the strategic outcome.how much this will come at our expense, in the form of continued terror remains to be seen.the eliminatioin of these terror forces should be a shared burden.

Look... im a Palestinian hamas member. I live in fear everyday of my life. I dont go outside after the day I saw my mother die from an Isreali mortar attack. my house has been bulldozed for no reason. the Isreali soldiers humuliated my father. I see friends and family die monthly. I am a result of the Isreali occupation. You expect us Palestinians watch our houses and land be taken away from some landless country that had no place to live afer WW2. We are the ones who let you live in our country and then you turned on us like the pigs you are. I live in my uncles house now. Theres no point in living. You ask why theres suicide bombs? its cuz u. I own a my own AK-47, I have ammunition for it. Im not gonna watch u take my homeland, the land that god has promised to us and not to you. Sure watch TV, theres nothing that there going to show u, nothing. I hope you see differently. I live in Ghaza. I have nothing left.